Politics

Senator threatens 'all out hell' if GOP lawmakers take up abortion bills

Madison — A Democratic state senator promised "all out hell" next week if Republicans stick to their plan to take up a controversial bill restricting abortion for public workers and limiting access to contraception for employees of religious organizations.

Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) said Tuesday's session could mirror one in June, when Senate President Mike Ellis (R-Neenah) broke the base of his gavel as he slammed it down to quiet Democrats upset over passing a different abortion bill.

Republicans who run the Senate are tentatively planning to approve two abortion bills on Tuesday.

One would ban any abortions that are sought because of the sex of the fetus. The other would prevent public employees' health plans from covering most abortions and would also strictly limit the ability of employees of religious organizations to get contraception through their insurance plans.

Walker sought to distance himself from the abortion bills Thursday while declining to say whether he would sign them. At a Madison signing ceremony for another piece of legislation, Walker said his attention was focused on improving the state's finances and economy and he hadn't looked at the abortion legislation.

"Just about any other issue hasn't been on my radar," Walker said.

Erpenbach opposes both abortion bills, and he objected Thursday to taking them up next week because the Senate never held a public hearing on the Assembly version of the bill dealing with contraception. That version has an amendment that allows employees of religious organizations to get contraception through their insurers if the contraception is prescribed for some reason other than preventing pregnancies.

Erpenbach said that was a major change that demanded a vetting in a public hearing. He questioned whether employers would scrutinize the reason workers were getting contraception to determine whether they had to pay for it.

A committee of Senate leaders will have to waive the public hearing requirement in this case. Waiving the public hearing requirement has happened in the past only when Republicans and Democrats have agreed to do so, Erpenbach said.

But Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) said many amendments are offered on the floor that have not had public hearings — and under Senate rules don't require one.

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee approved the bills Thursday on party-line 3-2 votes, advancing them to the full Senate. Before they did, Erpenbach pleaded with the committee chairwoman, Sen. Leah Vukmir (R-Wauwatosa), to hold a hearing to get public input on changes to the contraception provisions.

"You don't want this headline," Erpenbach told her. "You really don't. You don't want this headline, you don't want the story, you don't want the hassle that's about to happen."

Julaine Appling, executive director of Wisconsin Family Action, called Erpenbach's demands for a public hearing a "stalling tactic." His promises of "all out hell" on the floor are reminiscent of massive protests that erupted at the Capitol over restrictions on collective bargaining shortly after Walker took office in January 2011, she said.

"That has been their philosophy since January 2011," Appling said. "This is just yet another page out of their playbook."

The expected abortion debate comes fives months after Walker and GOP lawmakers approved a bill requiring women seeking abortions to get ultrasounds and mandating that doctors who provide them have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals.

That Senate session was tense, with Democrats shouting through the vote that debate was unfairly cut off and Ellis slamming down his gavel in an attempt to silence them. Planned Parenthood soon after launched an ad against Ellis, who faces Rep. Penny Bernard Schaber (D-Appleton) in next year's election.

Planned Parenthood and another provider sued the state over the requirement that doctors have hospital admitting privileges, saying two of the state's four clinics would have to stop providing abortions. U.S. District Judge William Conley blocked the provision before it went into effect while he considers whether it is constitutional.

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has appealed Conley's initial ruling to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.

The clinics contend requiring admitting privileges violates the constitution's due process guarantee, puts an undue burden on the right to abortion and unconstitutionally treats doctors who perform abortions differently from doctors who perform other procedures. The state argues the requirement is a reasonable means of regulating a medical procedure.

The clinics in Wisconsin did not challenge the ultrasound provision of the law and it remains in effect.

About Patrick Marley

Patrick Marley covers state government and state politics. He is the author, with Journal Sentinel reporter Jason Stein, of "More Than They Bargained For: Scott Walker, Unions and the Fight for Wisconsin.”